by Shane Carrow
This tree is nice and shady, and the day is only getting hotter. I still have a fifth of a bottle of Australian whiskey and some bullets in a very fine rifle. Things could be worse.
Do I give the impression that zombies are closing in all around me? They’re not. I’m not madly scribbling this down. I’m taking my time, composing my thoughts. Eight bullets now. It’s been maybe an hour since I was shot. The tourniquet has slowed the bleeding, but I can still feel my vitality draining away. The zombies come slowly, but steadily. Maybe I’ll run out of bullets before I bleed to death. Maybe not.
Sitting this close to death makes me marvel at the beauty of everything. The deep, rich purple of the Paterson’s Curse. The heatwaves shimmering on the horizon. The smooth feeling of the gum tree, shorn of winter bark, cool under my skin. The oiled mechanism of the Remington. Even the undead, those marvellous marching machines, and the beauty of a bullet cutting through their skulls, making them drop beneath the flowers. It’s a wonderful image. It makes it look as though I’m cleansing the landscape.
Maybe it’s the liquor. Or the blood loss. Maybe I’m delirious.
I suppose – if anyone is actually reading this – that you’ll want to know why I don’t just call Aaron for the chopper. It could be here in a matter of hours. I could live, if I was really lucky.
He’s pressing at my mind right now. He knows something has happened to my leg, knows that I’m badly hurt. I suppose I could call him just to say goodbye. Final words? Commiserations? A waste of time.
Five bullets left now. Three of them came at once.
It’s not because of pride. All the reasons I turned the chopper down yesterday still stand. I just don’t know what they are. They’re everything and nothing. I want to go back, but I don’t want to go back. I’m terrified of going back. I’m terrified of sitting around in the snow doing nothing, taking a back seat to everything that’s happening. I remember the days on the road, the days of Albany and Kalgoorlie and Eucla. I can’t go back to Jagungal. Not after New England, not after Draeger, not after Rahvi and Blake and Jess. I don’t know it anymore. I don’t know anything anymore.
Three bullets. My vision is starting to blur. Can you even read this? My hand is shaking.
Five of us went north. None will come back. I made it further than anyone. I tried. God knows I tried.
I planned to walk back. Maybe I would have stayed for a while. Maybe I knew that I wouldn’t ever make it. Maybe I didn’t expect the end to be so soon.
Maybe I’m just fucked in the head.
One bullet left.
But I’m a survivor.
To be concluded in the FINAL volume of the End Times series…
END TIMES VOLUME VI: BROTHER’S KEEPER
If you enjoyed End Times V: Kingdom of Hell, please take a moment to rate and review on Amazon and Goodreads. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy – a star rating and a single sentence helps me appease the gods of the Amazon search algorithm, which prevents me from sliding into the dark pit of obscurity that all authors dread. Thanks as always for reading!
AUSTRALIAN ENGLISH GLOSSARY
(Author’s note – this is largely for the benefit of readers in the US, as many terms are also widely used in Britain)
ABC – Australian Broadcasting Corporation, a public broadcasting network on TV and radio, modelled on the BBC
ADF – Australian Defence Force, comprising of the Australian Army, Royal Australian Navy and Royal Australian Air Force
ambo – can refer to either an ambulance or a paramedic
aggro – aggressive behaviour
Army Reserve – Australian Army reserve units comprised of part-time soldiers, equivalent to the National Guard in the US or Territorial Army in the UK
arvo – afternoon
baggy green – dark green cap worn by members of the Australian national cricket team
bikie – member of an outlaw motorcycle gang
Blind Freddie – a hypothetical imaginary person with poor perception, i.e. “even Blind Freddie could see that”
bloke – man i.e. “guy”
bloody oath – an emphatically affirmative reply, similar to “damn straight.” A more modern variant is “fucking oath”
blower – telephone or radio, i.e. “get on the blower,” similar to “get on the horn”
bogan – white trash, equivalent to redneck in the US or chav in the UK
BOM – Bureau of Meteorology
bonnet – hood (of a car)
boot – trunk (of a car)
bottle-o – bottle shop/liquor store
Bunnings – warehouse hardware franchise, similar to Lowe’s in the US or B&Q in the UK
bush, the – generic term for the vaguely-defined forest and scrubland wilderness which is not quite the true desert of the Outback
chemist – drug store or pharmacy
clearance divers – members of the Royal Australian Navy’s Clearance Diving Branch, a unit which began in World War II with a minesweeping focus but which in modern times has expanded to become the RAN’s special operations unit, similar to US Navy SEALs
Coles – one of two nationally dominant supermarkets, the other being Woolworths
Commonwealth – usually shorthand for the federal government (as opposed to state governments), not the Commonwealth of Nations
daggy – dorky or unfashionable
deadshit – deadbeat
demountable – portable building, known as a Portakabin in the UK
derro – deadbeat, derived from “derelict”
doona – duvet
Driza-Bone – trademark name for full-length waterproof riding coats, traditionally worn by farmers or stockmen
dunny – toilet
Duntroon – the Australian Army’s officer training academy in Canberra, equivalent to West Point in the US or Sandhurst in the UK
esky – portable cooler or ice box, derived from “eskimo box”
flog – sell, or try to sell, generally on a second-hand informal market
fibro – “fibrous cement sheet,” the manufacture of which is now banned for its use of asbestos, but still a common building material in pre-1980s structures in Australia; in particular, the corrugated fibro fence is a common sight in Western Australia
firey – firefighter
fossicking – prospecting, now used to mean “rummaging”
freezing – usually just a figure of speech in Australia, where in most places the temperature rarely drops below actual freezing point
fucking oath – see bloody oath
galah – a type of cockatoo (which is a type of parrot) used as slang to mean “idiot”
gas – generally used to mean liquid petroleum gas, i.e. propane, also referred to as LPG
gum tree – eucalyptus tree
having a go – criticising or verbally attacking someone, i.e. “don’t have a go at me about this”
Holden – an Australian car brand considered to be nationally iconic, despite having been a subsidiary of General Motors for most of its history
ice – slang for methamphetamine
IGA – Independent Grocers Association, national co-operative of independent supermarkets
jarrah – species of hardwood gum tree
journo – journalist
karri – species of extremely tall gum tree only found in WA
kay – unofficial abbreviation for kilometre
Kiwi – New Zealander
latte sipper – political epithet referring to a perceived class of out-of-touch, inner-city elites, similar to “ivory tower dwellers”
LPG – liquid petroleum gas i.e. propane or simply gas
make a song and dance – excessively and unnecessarily draw attention to something
marron – freshwater crayfish; known as “yabbies” in the eastern states
middy – a roughly half-pint beer glass; known as a pot in Victoria and a ten-ounce in Tasmania
miles – Australia has used the met
ric system since the 1960s, but “miles” is still often used as a figure of speech
mozzy/mozzie – mosquito
nappy – diaper
nick – steal
Nurofen – trademark brand and generic term for ibuprofen
occy strap – bungee cord, derived from “octopus strap”
Panadol – trademark brand and generic term for paracetamol; the stronger version is Panadeine
petrol – gasoline; “gas” refers to LPG
pokies – poker machines or slot machines; illegal in Western Australia but a common sight in pubs and RSLs in other states
Premier – the head of government of a state, equivalent to a Governor in the US
Prime Minister – the head of the federal government. While the Queen is technically Australia’s head of state, represented by the Governor-General (who is in any case appointed by the PM), in practice Australia is entirely independent and the Prime Minister is the nation’s leader
Queenslander – architecturally, a type of house built on stilts or stumps off the ground, to allow for ventilation in hot climates and protect the structure from flood damage. Common in Queensland and northern New South Wales
Red Rooster – roast chicken fast food franchise
rego – car registration and license plate number
RFDS – Royal Flying Doctor Service, a non-profit air ambulance service for remote areas
RFS – Rural Fire Service, the firefighting agency responsible for rural fire management in New South Wales
ropeable – extremely angry
RSL – Returned and Services League, a support organisation for Australian Defence Force veterans, but also used to refer to an RSL club: a licensed venue with dining, drinking and gambling facilities which are open to the general public and a common sight in suburban Australia
SAS – Special Air Service. An elite special forces unit, named after the British SAS
sealed road – a bitumen or asphalt road, as opposed to an unsealed road of sand, dirt or gravel; equivalent to “metalled road” or “paved road” in the UK or US
servo – service station or petrol station
SES – State Emergency Service, a volunteer organisation which assists professional agencies during and after declared disasters, natural or otherwise. Recognisable by their orange jumpsuits. Not to be confused with the SAS, an elite military unit.
she’ll be right – common expression meaning that everything will be okay
smoko – smoke break (in the workplace); falling out of practice as smoking rates decline
stickybeak – an inquisitive or prying person; also a verb meaning look, i.e. “go have a stickybeak around the place”
stockman – mounted livestock worker on Outback cattle stations, i.e. a cowboy or cattle wrangler
stroppy – cranky or argumentative
sunnies – sunglasses
suss – suspicious, as in “it looked pretty suss;” also to infer or discover, as in “go and suss it out”
Tassie – Tasmania
thongs – flip-flops, and the cause of many humorous misunderstandings for Australians overseas
tinny – traditionally a can of beer, more commonly used now to refer to a small aluminium dinghy, usually used by recreational fishermen
tradie – tradesman, or more broadly any blue-collar worker
ugg boots – sheepskin boots traditionally considered daggy and associated with bogans; becoming popular overseas as a luxury fashion item, which Australians find hilarious
uni – university
unsealed road – a dirt, sand or gravel road, as opposed to a sealed road
ute – utility vehicle (pick-up truck)
VB – Victoria Bitter, Australia’s best-selling cheap beer
WACE – Western Australian Certificate of Education; the high school exams and scores which determine university placement in the state of Western Australia
Woolworths or ‘Woolies’ – one of two dominant national supermarkets, the other being Coles